It’s called Black Friday because it has been the time of year when retailers start to turn a profit because of the Christmas rush to buy gifts.  In recent years they have turned it into an event, opening the doors at the stroke of midnight and offering deals to lure in the hordes.  As more people migrate to online shopping, the term may lose its original meaning, but I think it’s appropriate for other reasons.

As the mobs throng the stores and fight like animals over the merchandise, I reflect on how much we’ve lost.  Nothing in those stores is worth fighting over.  You can keep reading.  This won’t be another anti-Christmas or anti-commercialism tirade.  Only a wish that as we enjoy the festivities we would not forget why we celebrate.

Leaving aside the pagan origins of just about everything we do, we’re supposedly doing it in memory of the birth of Jesus.  I used to hate just about everything about this time of year, but lately I’ve come to see it differently.

Though it’s true that anything remotely Christian is being driven out of the public square, the enemies of God have not managed to suppress the message entirely.  Show me another time when you stand even a chance of hearing the coming of Jesus as savior of the world proclaimed so publicly.

So I rejoice that at this time of year we have opportunity greater than any other.  Let’s not blow it.  Let’s not spend our energy fighting over and about things that ultimately don’t matter.  If more of us acted like Jesus, I wonder if we wouldn’t see more of Him in those places where He is now shunned.